[GOAL] Re: Willett's Speech in Support of OA

[Andrew A. Adams]

> As trailed earlier, the speech made to the Publishers' Association earlier today by David Willetts (the UK Minister for Universities and Science) is now available.  While we may quibble at some aspects, it is hugely supportive of OA:
> 
> http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/speeches/david-willetts-public-access-to-research

I'm afraid I do rather more than "quibble at some aspects". This shows the 
dangerous misunderstandings about OA that are hindering real progress 
(alongside the bizarre inability of most academics to see that we need OA as 
a body and that the quickest and easiest way to achieve it is to provide it 
mutually). Here are the phrases which worry me:

"Our starting point is very simple. The Coalition is committed to the 
principle of public access to publicly-funded research results...
Perhaps I might speak from the experience of writing my own book, The Pinch, 
on fairness between the generations. It was very frustrating to track down an 
article and then find it hidden behind a pay wall. That meant it was freely 
accessible to a professional in an academic institution, but not to me as an 
independent writer."

He misunderstands that this problem exists for academics as well as the 
general public.

"It would be deeply irresponsible to get rid of one business model and not 
put anything in its place."

I am worried that he is concerned about the profits of publishers. Profits 
are not necessarily a natural part of academic publishing. If a profitable 
business model exists that reflects added value, then that's fine. However, 
finding a model in which costs are covered (and that can include subsidy from 
other sources such as membership to scholarly societies, direct university 
funding, direct public funding) without those costs being diverted into the 
coffers of a rent-seeking parasitic business is needed, not a way to ensure 
that someone makes profits while potentially hindering academic 
communication. Communication (between academics and from them to the rest of 
society) is the goal.

"The crucial options are, as you know, called green and gold. Green means 
publishers are required to make research openly accessible within an agreed 
embargo period."

Here is my biggest problem. Davd Willetts does not understand Green OA. Well, 
he's a minister. He generally won't understand all the details of every 
speech he makes (the "two brains nickname notwithstanding". What is more 
worrying is the fact that this speech reflects the lack of understanding 
amongst his speechwriters (political and civil servants who act as his 
general staff in deciding policy). With this fundamental misunderstanding of 
the fact that Green OA is about academics and institutions making their 
papers' contents available gratis while Gold OA is about publishers making 
papers' content available, any policy developed by the BIUS will be deeply 
flawed.

I understand that in this speech he was talking to publishers. Perhaps we can 
somehow arrange for the Minister for Universities to come and give a talk at 
a UK university at which his message might be targetted to academics, instead.

-- 
Professor Andrew A Adams                      aaa at meiji.ac.jp
Professor at Graduate School of Business Administration,  and
Deputy Director of the Centre for Business Information Ethics
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan       http://www.a-cubed.info/